Larger screen & larger keyboard

[pocketrocket62]

Is there a PDA which is about 8inches wide by 5inches high which has an almost-full-sized keyboard, weighing less than 1.5 lbs, for a reasonable price? (I don't have a "smartphone", and I don't want one. So if the new Palm "companion" is worthless without some sort of smart phone, don't bother suggesting it).

It does not have to also be a phone, email-reader, take pictures, hook up to the internet, and all that jazz.

It just needs to have software for calendaring, contact list, and "to do"/task planning. Truly, just a personal digital assistant. (if it had other bells & whistles, fine, but I wouldn't want to pay a lot for them). Something that runs off regular old batteries that's better than pencil and paper, but isn't so itsy-bitsy tiny that it's impossible to see or type into. (I can type faster than I write things out long hand - and I painfully recall the time it took to deal with graffiti and its ilk).

A significant chunk of information needs to be visible on the screen at once, preferably landscape style, not portrait. It needs to allow easy entry of text data via touch-typing, and be able to plug in USB memory stick and SD card so I can just as easily edit my external files on my desktop/laptop computer (OS X, possibly an MS Windows XP too)

Does such a thing exist - yet?

[Silly Rabbit]

I don't think such an animal exists. Personally, although my vision is not so good, I'd think an 8 x 5 inch "PDA" would be a bit unwieldy, espeically, since I carry my Palm around with me pretty much everywhere. I have a Palm TX which fits easily into my tote bag, handbag or even some pockets. It can be viewed in either portrait or landscape mode. Most of my applications have desktop versions, too, since I'm proficient at keyboading but not so much at entering on the Palm. I do have the portable, folding, Palm wireless keyboard I can use, when I need to enter alot of stuff directly to the Palm. Also, if I don't want to use the keyboard, I use BugMe, which is a digital ink program, unlike graffiti, & easier for me to make notes or add info directly into the Palm. When I get back to my desktop, I then go through the BugMe notes & keyboard the data into wherever it needs to go. (It then gets loaded onto the TX during the next hot sync.)

[Hook]

I anticipate the possibility of using the Foleo without a smartphone for a similar use case.. I call it a "lapwriter." I think it might well be the closest thing out there to what you want.

It is pricey, but if it meets my needs, it could be worth it.

[pocketrocket62]

I used to have a Palm Vx. I had the foldable keyboard. Crumpled in my lap frequently, especially on the train. I had Jot (improved graffiti), and QuickNotes. Hated all of it.

I'm serious about data entry. Imagine that I'm typing thousands of words in on this thing. I have only an hour or so at home each day when I have access to my home computer. I have an additional two hours during train rides when I can organize my activities and information using a PDA organizer - if it's a PDA with a large enough display and a serious keyboard.

I don't intend to SYNC my data. That's what the SD card and the memory stick are for. I'd just keep 1 backup copy of the data on the harddrive of the home computer, but really only edit the copy that's on the SD card (or USB stick).

I carry a small handbag. It can easily contain a steno-sized notebook. Why not instead carry a PDA that size?

[NetBrakr]

Why not instead carry a PDA that size?

Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are handheld computers, which fit on palm of your hand. This device are you talking about isnt PDA, more like a small laptop computer.

Capt. JC

[Hook]

I don't intend to SYNC my data. That's what the SD card and the memory stick are for. I'd just keep 1 backup copy of the data on the harddrive of the home computer, but really only edit the copy that's on the SD card (or USB stick).

This comes very close to what I have if you follow the "my needs" link in my previous post.

[pocketrocket62]

Sorry Captain, but you are mistaken. I'm looking for a personal organizer, perhaps we could call it a PO I'm getting on in years, so I need to be the size of a laptop. I'm not looking for a computer.

(A computer is something I expect to program myself. I've programmed on various computers over the last 25 years, using various operating systems such as OS 1100, VMS, Ultrix, Dos, MS Windows, and I hope to program Linux and Mac OS X in the future).

Nowhere in the letters PDA does it say "hand", or "palm". It doesn't refer to size at all, in fact. It says "personal" and "assistant". I need personal assistance in organizing my personal information - on a screen bigger than a peanut

thanks

Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are handheld computers, which fit on palm of your hand. This device are you talking about isnt PDA, more like a small laptop computer.

Capt. JC

[Silly Rabbit]

I'm getting on in years, so I need to be the size of a laptop.

Good luck with that.

(A computer is something I expect to program myself. I've programmed on various computers over the last 25 years, using various operating systems such as OS 1100, VMS, Ultrix, Dos, MS Windows, and I hope to program Linux and Mac OS X in the future).

FWIW, many of us here are "programmers" and guess what? A PDA IS a computer.

[AZ-TE]

Honestly, it does sound like you need either a small laptop (something like a lifebook) or the Palm Foleo when it is released.

[pocketrocket62]

[NOTE: Before you give me a negative rating on my "reputation" for this post, please read my apology in Larger screen & larger keyboard

I have no doubt that some programmers spend their time writing software for tiny little handheld "computers" somewhere in this world.

I haven't checked the screens of handheld so-called computers lately but...

I need at least 100 visible characters in a line across a window when I write software. (And when I write documents or to do lists, for that matter.) Is that available on a handheld so-called "computer"?

My envisioned ultra-portable organizational assistant isn't something I expect to program myself, but it is something I expect to quickly and easily copy and paste text around in, type in text, view occasional images, and so forth.

It's time folks started thinking outside the boxes!!!